A woman answers a help-wanted ad to work as a housekeeper in a mysterious New York City high-rise, unaware that she’s stepping into a building with a long history of unexplained disappearances — one that may be under the control of a satanic cult. What starts as a routine job quickly spirals into a fight for survival, as her character — a tough ex-con — turns out to be posing as the new maid specifically to track down her estranged sister, who vanished inside the building.
The Performances
The film rests almost entirely on Zazie Beetz’s shoulders, and by most accounts, she carries it. Reviewers consistently praise her physicality, noting that she performs a significant amount of her own stunt and fight work, which reportedly required going through some genuinely rough, punishing sequences. One critic put it simply: Beetz is an absolute action star, and the film’s best moments come from a couple of excellently, fluidly composed set pieces built around her. Another reviewer echoed that sentiment, saying she effortlessly carries the entire film on her performance alone.
The Style and Tone
Visually and tonally, this is a movie that wants you to know exactly what influences it’s drawing from. Critics have described it as a blend of Kill Bill and Evil Dead, mixing stylized martial-arts-style violence with campy, splattery horror. The gore is a major part of the experience — the prosthetic and makeup work is singled out repeatedly for making the violence look exaggerated and almost surreal, and the film reportedly leans into some genuinely strange touches, including characters seemingly made of lightweight “blood jelly” during its more chaotic set pieces.
One reviewer described the experience as feeling like an unexpected throwback, saying it played like an 80s B-movie, with a premise similar to Ready or Not but with noticeably higher gore and bloodshed. That reviewer also noted the sheer volume of carnage eventually became numbing rather than shocking, adding that by a certain point they became desensitized to the violence on screen.
For viewers who want a film that doesn’t ask much of them beyond enjoying the ride, several reviews suggest this one fits the bill. It’s been called the kind of movie meant to entertain without requiring much thought, which seems to be exactly the experience Sokolov is going for.
Where It Falls Short
Not everyone was on board, and the criticism tends to circle around the same issue: the story doesn’t quite match the ambition of the visuals. One critic wrote that the film amounts to little more than a barrage of set pieces without much story or characters holding them together, and pointed out that the movie sets up intriguing ideas — like the concept that every floor of the building has its own distinct theme — without ever paying them off, similar to a hinted-at rooftop showdown that never actually happens. That reviewer’s overall takeaway was that it felt like there’s a better, more fully realized version of this film floating around somewhere.
A more critical take from Rotten Tomatoes was even harsher, describing the film as gory, noisy, and hostile — never quite fun, missing the freewheeling sense of danger and focused rescue story it seems to be chasing beneath all the mayhem.
Meanwhile, a more positive critic pushed back against that read entirely, framing the film as a movie unafraid to march to its own campy, violent, clever drumbeat — the kind of big creative swing people always say they want, delivering a jolt of adrenaline straight to the heart.
The film’s climax also drew some mixed reactions. At least one reviewer felt the CGI-heavy final act leaned too far into silliness, undercutting some of the grounded, practical-feeling brutality that defined the earlier parts of the movie.
Who Should Watch This
If your idea of a good time is unapologetic, blood-soaked, over-the-top genre filmmaking with a legitimately great lead performance, this is very likely for you. If you need a tightly plotted story with well-developed characters to back up the carnage, you may come away feeling like the movie promised more than it delivered.
Verdict
They Will Kill You is a wildly uneven but frequently entertaining genre mashup — gleefully violent, visually inventive, and anchored by a commanding performance from Zazie Beetz, even if the story around her doesn’t always earn the chaos it unleashes.
RATING: 4/5